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Turning
Weaknesses into Strengths
The
17 February 2005 edition of the Zeitgeist e-Zine
As I often
say in my presentations across North America, you gotta break some rules
to get noticed. After all…when was the last time you actually
paid attention to a “traditional” ad.
In fact, if we have to be bombarded with advertisements, most of us
want them to be different. And, if you were at a Super
Bowl party this year, you know of what I speak. When the
stray “traditional” commercial aired (Novartis
Ciba Vision), people GROANED!
Now, not every one of our products is new, unique, breakthrough or otherwise
able to standout in a crowded field of competitors. In fact, some of
our product may be downright lacking. It may be missing a few bells
and whistles that might be expected by today’s increasingly savvy
consumer.
What to do? Take a cue from Apple.
They’ve transformed the music  world
with the elegant iPod.
And, millions of true music aficionados with large digital music libraries
have gleefully plunked down over $300 for iPods so powerful that it
would take weeks (if not months) to listen to every song in a fully
stocked unit.
My daughter begged for one last year (a true sign that the iPod was
hip) and I responded (Dad-like) that iPods stored thousands of songs…and
that she had only a couple hundred.
Her ship came in last month with the introduction (naturally, right
after the holiday buying season) of the iPod
Shuffle. The size of a fat finger, the entry-level Shuffle
can hold a mere 120 songs but, at $99, it's the perfect size and prize
for everybody else.
But, the critics screeched, there’s no click-wheel! There’s
no screen! You can’t control what song comes next!
All true. But Apple takes the Shuffle’s limitations and turns
them into an additional strength:
“Time to mix things up. Meet iPod Shuffle, the unpredictable
new iPod. What will it play next? Can it read your mind? Can it read
your moods? Load it up. Put it on. See where it takes you.”
Celebrating that “Life is Random,” Apple makes the limitation
of the Shuffle its strength. Every next song is a surprise! How cool!
But, unlike the random nature of radio, you loaded these songs onto
the Shuffle, meaning (in theory) that you like all 120
of them…so you’ll like each new surprise.
Try Thinking
Differently about your product. Is there a perceived weakness
that could be positioned as a strength in the eyes of an emerging market
consciousness?
Bill
Wanna
comment on this or other topics. E-mail
Me!
PS:
Lots of interesting response to last issue's take on Brookings' release
of a report critical of convention center development. We'll update
you on the debate (and the fallout across America) next time.
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